Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has announced that a missionized U.S. Marine Corps Valkyrie Collaborative Combat Aircraft successfully demonstrated electronic warfare capabilities and beyond-line-of-sight command and control during flight testing in Southern California. The USMC Valkyrie BVLOS demonstration took place in April 2026 and included operations alongside multiple Marine Corps F-35 aircraft and an F/A-18.
During the mission, the runway-independent Valkyrie launched from a zero-length launcher, validated its BLOS system and transitioned control between different ground control interfaces before autonomously returning to its recovery point.
USMC Valkyrie BVLOS Command and Control Demonstrated
The Valkyrie began the mission under control of a Kratos ground control station.
After validating and characterizing the BLOS system, control of the aircraft was transferred to an Autonomy Government Reference Architecture-compliant human-machine interface developed by Autonodyne.
According to Kratos, the transition allowed a U.S. Marine Corps operator to control the Valkyrie over the beyond-line-of-sight connection.
The aircraft then operated alongside multiple USMC F-35s and an F/A-18 while completing coordinated electronic warfare test objectives.
At the conclusion of the mission, the Valkyrie autonomously returned to its recovery point.
Multiple Organizations Support Valkyrie Flight Test
The Expeditionary Maritime Aviation-Advanced Development Team led the Integrated Test Team.
Support was provided by:
- A U.S. Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron
- U.S. Naval Air Test and Evaluation Squadrons
- Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Autonodyne, LLC
The test evaluated the integration of command-and-control, autonomy and electronic warfare capabilities aboard the missionized Valkyrie platform.
Valkyrie Advances Mission System Integration
According to Kratos, the April demonstration represented the fourth new mission system configuration flown aboard USMC Valkyrie aircraft in less than three years.
“The Valkyrie team continues to pave the way and demonstrate critical unmanned technologies that allow the U.S. Marine Corps and our military partners to effectively close kill chains in contested environments,” said Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division.
“This is the fourth new mission system configuration flown on USMC Valkyrie platforms in less than three years, each advancing deeper integration with the air vehicle, subsystems, and datalinks.”
Kratos said the Valkyrie incorporates an open systems architecture, vendor-agnostic autonomy and payload and power capacity designed to support the rapid integration of additional capabilities.
Kratos Expands Valkyrie Production
Fendley said Kratos expects to produce more than 150 Group 5 unmanned jet aircraft during the year.
The company is also scaling production toward approximately 40 Valkyrie aircraft annually to support domestic and international customers.
According to Kratos, the production expansion is supported by internally funded investments across its U.S. facilities.
MUX TACAIR Valkyrie Development Continues
In January 2026, Kratos and Northrop Grumman Mission Systems announced the award of the U.S. Marine Corps Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract.
Under the MUX TACAIR program, Northrop Grumman and Kratos are developing Missionized Valkyrie Air Vehicle platforms incorporating Northrop Grumman’s mission kit and Open Architecture Autonomy Software.
The first prototype MUX TACAIR Valkyrie Air Vehicle is scheduled for completion in summer 2026.
The USMC Valkyrie BVLOS demonstration validated beyond-line-of-sight command and control while the aircraft operated with crewed Marine Corps aircraft and completed coordinated electronic warfare test objectives.
Source: Press release from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
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